The Kansas City Chiefs made a pair of roster moves on Thursday, May 15.
According to the NFL’s daily personnel notice, the Chiefs waived two players from their 90-man offseason roster. The first was an expected procedural move, with WR Justin Lockhart being waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement. Lockhart initially signed with the team as an undrafted free agent from San Jose State ahead of the team’s rookie minicamp. During rookie minicamp, he suffered an undisclosed injury. He was initially waived with an injury designation and reverted to injured reserve, setting him up for an injury settlement. The other move wasn’t quite so expected, with an injury to a running back who has been with the team since the middle of the 2023 NFL season.
Keaontay Ingram waived with an injury designation
The Chiefs waived veteran RB Keaontay Ingram with an injury designation on Friday. Should he clear waivers, he’ll revert to injured reserve. From there, he could go through a situation similar to Justin Lockhart’s with an injury settlement and waiver.
Where things might differ is that Ingram spent 1.5 seasons in Kansas City. He initially joined the practice squad in November of 2023 and became a Super Bowl champion with the team. He signed a reserve/future deal and returned to the Chiefs for the 2024 NFL season. While he didn’t make the 53-man roster, he spent the entire year on the practice squad.
What Chiefs GM Brett Veach said about him in April 2024 suggested the team had bigger plans.
“Keaontay Ingram is a guy we like, too,” Veach said. “We got him late last year and it’s hard when guys come in into the middle of the season, we added him into our practice squad late, but I think we were a fan of his when he was at USC.”
Given the commitment and time spent with the Chiefs, Ingram may choose to stay on injured reserve with Kansas City. He could also agree to an injury settlement and return later to the practice squad or the 90-man roster. By my current count, the Chiefs have one free space on the 90-man offseason roster. They could try to bring back a rookie minicamp tryout who didn’t catch on with another team or add some veteran talent from the remaining pool of free agent players.
